IMPHAL, Sep 4: Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee, Manipur (STDCM) today organised a public meeting apart from staging a sit-in-protest at Lamlong Keithel today.
STDCM former convenor Tayenjam Khogen while speaking at the meeting said that womenfolk must take active part in the ST demand just like the late mothers did in the first and second Nupilans and during the Seven Years of Devastation.
Stating that Meetei/Meitei has now become a dying community, Khogen said that they would face extinction if immediate measures are not taken up.
It is idiotic not to put in effort to enlist Meetei/Meitei in the ST list although the community is eligible for it, he observed.
STDCM general secretary Dr Th Ranjit said that Meeteis/Meiteis have been suffering due to conceit.
He expressed wonder on the notion that Meeteis/Meiteis are the descendants of Arjun of the Mahabharata.
He said that Meeteis/Meiteis belong to Mongoloid race and every ethnic community of Manipur has a history of more than 2000 years and it would be wrong to say that this long history belonged to Meiteis/Meeteis alone.
Koubru peak is still regarded as one of the most sacred places of the Meeteis/Meiteis and it clearly testifies that the community originated from hill areas, Ranjit said.
Both Meetei/Meitei and hill tribes belong to Mongoloid race and there is no difference in physical appearance as well, he said and added that everybody must now realize that there is an urgent need for the protection of Meetei/Meitei as well like hill tribes.
